The latest news from and about SWITCH

23.12.2011

Opening times between Christmas and New Year 2011/2012

19.12.2011

The Federal Administrative Court supports SWITCH, to the benefit of its customers

The surplus from the registration of domain names is not going to OFCOM for the time being. That was decided on by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court on 1 December 2011. SWITCH, the registry for .ch and .li domains, wants the domain holders to benefit from the surplus from domain name registration. In a judgment handed down on 1 December 2011, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that SWITCH did not have to hand over the surplus from its domain name registration operations to the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). OFCOM had wanted the money and had issued a corresponding order on 11 November 2010. SWITCH had filed an appeal against that order in the interests of the domain name holders.
 

28.11.2011

New gTLDs: a new address structure in the Internet in 2012

The Internet address structure is being extended. As of 2012, it will be possible to apply for any desired terms to be used as the address ending. This will mean that addresses like "www.timetable.sbb" and "www.studies.eth" will become possible. Experts are discussing the opportunities and dangers for business and the public administration at today's "New gTLDs" information event in Bern, which has been organised by SWITCH and the Swiss Federal Office of Communications. To date, the address endings in the Internet, the so-called Top Level Domains, have been limited to country endings, such as .ch, or terms like .com, .org or .info. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is responsible for the international coordination of the Internet addressing system. As of 2012, it will be permitting any desired terms as address endings. Applications can be submitted to ICANN for the so-called new generic Top Level Domains (new gTLDs) as of 12 January.

18.11.2011

New president and new managing director of SWITCH

On 17 november 2011, the foundation council elected Mr. Markus Brönnimann, Director of administration of the University of St. Gall, as the new president of the SWITCH foundation.

As of 1 May 2012, the new managing director of the foundation will be Dr. Andreas Dudler, the former president of the foundation.

14.11.2011

Information meeting: new generic endings for the internet – changes in the web

In June 2011, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is responsible for the international coordination of the internet addressing system, took the decision to introduce new top-level generic internet domains (gTLDs). This means that, as of 2012, any desired additional names will be permitted, alongside the existing gTLDs such as .com, .org and .info. This extension opens up a large number of new commercial and non-commercial opportunities but can also entail costs and risks. Both the private and the public sector in Switzerland must consider just how far they wish to make use of these new gTLDs, or how far they wish to protect themselves against the negative effects of third parties making use of such gTLDs. SWITCH and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) would like to invite the public to an information session on 28 November: in the Kursaal in Bern, experts will be discussing the opportunities and dangers of this innovation and will explain the application procedure.

16.08.2011

SWITCH Junior Web Award 2012: young talents sought

The website competition for school classes is starting for the sixth time today. SWITCH is looking for school classes from all over Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein who would like to explore the possibilities of the World Wide Web and design a website of their own, together with their teachers. The success story of the Junior Web Award began in 2007 when SWITCH launched the competition on the occasion of its 20-year anniversary. The aim was to promote the Internet and media competence of the young generation. More than 1800 school classes have since entered for the competition. Last year, the competition set a new record again with 192 completed projects, around 40 projects more than the previous year.

14.07.2011

Malware: SWITCH needs to block fewer websites

For six months now, SWITCH has been blocking Swiss websites that spread malicious software and infect Internet users' computers with malware as they surf. In the second quarter of 2011, SWITCH only had to block half as many websites as in the first quarter – thanks to its excellent cooperation with the Swiss hosting providers. Since November 2010, the registry for Swiss Internet addresses has been regularly checking up on indications of malware on .ch and .li websites. The aim is to clean up the website as rapidly as possible, working together with the holders and the hosting providers, so as to ensure that the malicious software does not spread any further.

22.06.2011

Zurich: New security server to protect the Internet

On 22 June 2011, at a meeting of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) in Singapore, the first of three new security servers for protecting the Internet was presented. The servers from Packet Clearing House (PCH) hold special cryptographic keys, which are required for the DNSSEC security protocol, which also protects the Internet addresses for Switzerland (.ch) and Liechtenstein (.li). The two other locations are in Zurich, where SWITCH will be bringing the server into operation in September 2011 and in San Jose (California).

14.06.2011

SWITCH welcomes the decisions of the Competition Commission and the Federal Administrative Court

SWITCH is a private, independent foundation, which supports the 300,000 employees and students of the Swiss universities with its Internet services. A group of hosting providers had lodged complaints with the Competition Commission and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) in conjunction with SWITCH's subsidiary, switchplus ag.

After the Competition Commission had been unable to establish any inadmissible behaviour on the part of SWITCH in February 2011 already, the hosting providers then submitted a supervisory complaint to the Competition Commission. The Commission similarly rejected this complaint at the end of May.

02.06.2011

World IPv6 Day on Wednesday, 8 June 2011

There are technologies that are extremely important but are slow to gain ground. IPv6, the new version of the Internet protocol, is one of these. The Internet Society has thus declared Wednesday, 8 June 2011 to be World IPv6 Day, on which the new Internet protocol will be tested.

On 8 June, the websites of big internet companies, including Google, Facebook, Akamai and Yahoo will be available via both IPv4 and IPv6 for 24 hours. At the same time, the Swiss IPv6 Day is being held in Switzerland.

31.05.2011

SWITCH Junior Web Award 2011: Swiss school classes shine in the web

At the Junior Web Award ceremony today, SWITCH presented prizes to 13 Swiss school classes for their web projects. The main winner at the award ceremony held in the Trafo Baden was a class from a vocational school in Porrentruy (Canton Jura): the surprisingly professional project on "Fat-Food" scooped up no fewer than three prizes. The other winners, however, also revealed a high level of creativity in the web amongst school classes from all over the country.

18.04.2011

Malware: SWITCH cleans up more than 700 Swiss websites

For a good four months now, SWITCH has been blocking Swiss websites if they are spreading malicious software and infecting the computers of Internet users with malware as they surf. More than 700 Swiss websites have had malware cleaned off them since November 2010 in this way. A unique process anywhere in the world. Surprised, but grateful, is the reaction of most website holders when SWITCH informs them that they are spreading malicious software via their website.

14.04.2011

SWITCH refuses to accept OFCOM ruling

SWITCH is a private, independent foundation which supports the 250,000 employees and students of the Swiss universities with its internet services. SWITCH is unable to understand the conclusions drawn by the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) and is thus considering contesting its ruling.

01.04.2011

Big and small web professionals

On Thursday, 31 March 2011, the "Best of Swiss Web" (BoSW) jury selected the "Master of Swiss Web 2011": the Migipedia website compiled by Migros. At the traditional Award Night in the Kongresshaus Zürich, a special prize was additionally presented for the first time in the "Digital Natives" category.

09.03.2011

Swiss Security Day

Responsibility for computer security cannot be left solely in the hands of security companies and manufacturers. The consumers themselves must assume their share of responsibility in this matter too. Along with the Swiss Security Day partners, SWITCH-CERT is promoting private individuals' awareness of the dangers.

08.02.2011

Swiss Kids on Facebook & Co.

The SWITCH Junior Web Award survey is looking into the way that children and young people behave in the internet. The current survey shows that the majority of Swiss kids are on Facebook & Co. By contrast to the first survey, which focused primarily on the pupils’ self-assessment, the key topic this time round was the use of social platforms. Those questioned were all former participants in the Junior Web Award who had jointly designed their own homepage as their entry for the award.

24.01.2011

Domain pulse on 17 and 18 February 2011 in Vienna

Domain pulse is the most significant event in the German-speaking world for current topics and trends associated with all aspects of domain names. In cooperation with the registries for Switzerland (SWITCH) and Germany (DENIC), the Austrian Registry (nic.at) hosts this year's Domain pulse conference on 17 and 18 February 2011 in Vienna.

06.12.2010

SWITCH and wikileaks.ch

SWITCH, the registry for .ch Internet addresses, is currently receiving a large number of enquiries as to the circumstances under which SWITCH would delete wikileaks.ch. This is governed by law. As the registry for .ch and .li domain names, SWITCH is not responsible for the content of websites. Whether the content of wikileaks.ch is of relevance for criminal law is a matter for the courts to decide on.